My son sometimes has a temper, and has been known to hit his door when sent to his room. He has actually done so enough to punch a bit of a hole in it. I'm trying to figure out what might be doable to fix the door. Here is a photo of it:

As can be seen, there is a crack on the left that is visible and slightly dented in, and the center/right hole is actually pressed in pretty good. The punched hole is approximately 6 inches in diameter.

I'm going to make my son pay for the repairs from his allowance, and as that is limited, I am hoping for a fairly quick/inexpensive solution.

You could help him fix it himself. The quality of the repair will be worse and the time requirement much higher, but he's much more likely to understand how much work he created with his temper. If it works in your house, you may even take the door down and explain that he can't have a door on his room till he helps you fix it.
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tylerlJun 30 '12 at 3:16

@tylerl: I would love to just take the door down, but he would actually like that... It would make it easier for him to sneak out when he's in trouble...
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PearsonArtPhotoJun 30 '12 at 3:40

The entire door slab can be replaced for around $40-$50. Probably fastest and cheapest alternative...
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BobJul 3 '12 at 19:37

Repairing the door is not really cost-effective given the cheap price of doors. I would have me pay to replace the door and damage something of his (but that's a post for parenting.stackexchange.com)
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MatthewDec 20 '12 at 18:58

3 Answers
3

Another option is to laboriously fill in the dent with spackle, layer by layer, and then carve in a matching 'grain' with a paperclip or other such tool in the topmost layer. Then repaint, and it'll look fine.

This would take time and patience (each 1/2" layer needs to dry for a while), and be an excellent learning experience for SOMEONE.

Most hollow core doors have solid wood frame that forms the top,bottom and sides of the door. Remove the molding on the field of the door so you have flat surface. Remove the doorknob. Cut A piece of luan or other smooth grained thin plywood the same size as the door. Cover the door in carpenters glue and apply the plywood. Drive a few nails around the perimeter to keep it in place until the glue can dry. With a hole saw drill out the doorknob hole using the old hole as a guide. Prime and paint to match the other side. reinstall the doorknob.

Also, while it is probably true that action needs to be taken to prevent this behaviour we are a) not here to to that and b) the damage has been done and needs repairing.
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ChrisF♦Dec 20 '12 at 8:27

I realize it's a drastic edit, but as others mention, links need to support you answer, not be the only part of the answer. The other comments didn't answer the question, so I removed those as well.
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BMitch♦Dec 20 '12 at 18:50